An analytical look at five significant questions in college basketball this week:

1. With the Big East in a constant state of flux, do you think the seven basketball-only schools will use their leverage and dissolve the league, then create their own conference?

At last this discussion evolves from a message board fantasy into an adult conversation.

The Big East basketball-first schools (Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette and DePaul) now seriously outnumber the football-playing members (UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida) that remain. In fact, the basketballers have the two-thirds majority they would need to dissolve the league, as Kevin McNamara first reported in the Providence Journal-Bulletin.

Fans of the basketball schools have grown weary of being abandoned by conference partners and are leery of having to play games against Tulane and SMU. A source close to the league told Sporting News some of the Big East’s legendary figures have discussed what might be possible if they were to create a new league and invite schools that are more compatible both athletically and geographically.

Successfully dissolving the league would make departing less punitive. No one would need to pay an exit fee, and the members probably would be able to recover their share of NCAA Tournament revenues and the like. They might even be able to retain the Big East brand name, although that would be tricky, and could attempt to negotiate a new deal with Madison Square Garden for their postseason tournament.

It’s not all that simple, though. It’s kind of like growing up in a wealthy but dysfunctional family, harboring anger toward parents and siblings... but being aware that rebelling cuts you off from the cash. There still appears to be far more money in being affiliated with the slap-dash version of Big East football than going it alone as a basketball league. There also are political advantages within the NCAA structure.

It’s not an easy choice.

New Big East commissioner Mike Aresco has a heck of a challenge negotiating a new TV deal with, it seems, core members departing every week. He also must assure that the league he is selling remains in one piece.

2. So Michael Dixon is done at Missouri. Can the Tigers still be an elite team without him?

Elite is a precious word. I prefer to reserve it for the truly special. For instance, Kentucky fans in the preseason were giving me a lot of heat for saying Ryan Harrow was not an elite recruit, as Marquis Teague, Brandon Knight and John Wall had been. (Yeah, we weren’t having this argument yesterday.)

There were recruiting services that listed Harrow as a top 25-type prospect, but there was never anyone expecting him to become an immediate star—so no, not elite.

Missouri had a shot at “elite” when the year began largely because Dixon and Phil Pressey gave the Tigers two veteran point guards with creative ability and the experience of contributing at a high level to a 30-win team. It would seem that Dixon’s departure has removed a considerable amount of this team’s potential for excellence.

But these Tigers still can be successful. Mizzou still has enough talent to challenge for an SEC championship in its first year in the league. The Tigers did not look like an SEC contender in losing to Louisville last week, but that can change if Oregon transfer Jabari Brown plays to the level that so excited the recruiting analysts.

An athletic 6-5 shooter, Brown should become eligible to compete starting Dec. 17 against South Carolina State, which will give him one game to prepare for the Dec. 22 Braggin’ Rights game against Illinois and then the Dec. 28 trip to UCLA. If the Tigers nail down both of those and Brown stars, only then may we can start talking about “elite” once more.

3. What is the more disappointing team in the first month—UCLA or Memphis? And which one is better positioned for a quick turnaround?

They’re running neck-and-neck, aren’t they? For every Tyler Lamb transferring out of UCLA, there’s a Joe Jackson getting benched at Memphis. For every Josh Smith eating his way out of the Bruins’ program, there’s a Tarik Black at Memphis taking a game off “to figure things out,” as coach Josh Pastner said.

The preseason seems so long ago, doesn’t it?

The problem at UCLA isn’t that players are leaving. It looks terrible, especially for a program obviously facing a make-or-break season. But dealing with a player who has star-level talent but no dedication to the game—as the Bruins did with Smith—is more trouble than it’s worth. This is addition by subtracting 300-plus pounds.

The problem at UCLA is the decision to turn the team over to transfer Larry Drew. You’re going to throw his stats at me. I just know it. He’s averaging 8.1 assists to 1.3 turnovers. Lovely. I know what I see. I see a player taking shortcuts on crucial possessions, particularly at the defensive end. My stat: Drew was 32-22 as North Carolina’s point guard of record. He is 5-2 at UCLA. That’s 37-24 at two of the elite—yep, there’s that word again—programs in the history of college basketball. He is who we thought he was.

Memphis still has the talent to rescue itself, although its opportunities are dwindling. The Tigers have Ohio at home next Wednesday, Louisville at home Dec. 15—a diminished Louisville at that, with Gorgui Dieng out because of a broken wrist—and Tennessee on the road Jan. 4. Otherwise, it’s mostly Conference USA.

The Tigers must inflict some serious damage before disappearing into their league.

4. Considering how Indiana (North Carolina) and Michigan (N.C. State) handled two of the ACC’s best teams, is there any conference race that looks as exciting as the Big Ten’s?

The Big Ten was a little disappointed to wind up splitting its challenge series with the ACC in a season where B1G was supposed to be the word. But a league generally isn’t going to be judged on whether a Penn State can bounce back from a major injury and beat a Boston College. It starts with the best teams.

To date, Michigan and Indiana have been two of the few teams making other college coaches jealous. (Gonzaga and Florida are among the others.) With Ohio State’s impressive showing on the road at Duke, Minnesota playing well, Illinois a surprising unbeaten and Michigan State owning one of the best wins anywhere—over Kansas on a neutral court—the Big Ten looks as though it will contest the most exciting race of any league.

5. Is the NCAA being unfair to Texas’ Myck Kabongo for dragging out his investigation?

If it turns out he has done nothing against its rules, then there’s no excuse for what’s happening.

What’s weird is that Tristan Thompson says he paid for Kabongo’s trip to Ohio to work out with him this summer and that he subsequently was reimbursed by Kabongo’s brother. Well, if either one of those two statements can be proven, which should be easy enough, then this deal should have been over long ago.

My buddy the dentist has these rules of life. Rule No. 3 is: Don’t have rich and powerful friends unless you’re going to use them for stuff. Thompson has been Kabongo’s friend since they were pre-teens, and now, as the No. 4-overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, he’s rich and powerful.

Frankly, I think Rule 3 should trump just about any rules the NCAA cooks up.